Posted
by
samzenpus
on Tuesday June 01, 2010 @10:49AM
from the you-have-30-seconds-to-comply dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to this IEEE story, iRobot and the US military have released video showing a weaponized version of iRobot's Warrior robot. In the video, the Warrior is seen firing a weapon system called the APOBS (Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System), a grenade-filled line propelled by a rocket and stabilized by a drogue parachute. This system is used to clear minefields and obstructed roads. The video shows soldiers deploying a Warrior with the APOBS mounted on its back. The robot fires the device, which lands along a dirt road, exploding after a few seconds. A voice is then heard, 'Road clear; proceed forward.'"

In WW2, soldiers used a device called a Bangalore Torpedo [wikipedia.org] or Bangalore Mine to clear obstacles - barbed wire, barriers, etc - without coming under fire. Basically, it was a long tube filled with TNT. Screw it together, push it along (from behind cover) and detonate to clear the area and make a safe path. We used them during the Normandy invasion, for example.

This robot version is, really, just the next-generation version of the Bangalore. You deploy the robot (which might be under fire, but the operator is safely out of the way) to the barrier, launch an obstacle clearing system, and detonate to clear the area and make a safe path.

The nations LAYING the mines are not the nations REMOVING the mines. One is not like the other.

Side note:BTW, the US (whose mine use is not a problem, and since no one, anywhere, ever, gives a fuck about moral examples need not set one) doesn't buy-in to getting rid of its own mines because they are useful in slowing and channelizing an attack on the Korean peninsula.

When most people were hallucinating Friendly Norks this was frowned on. Every now and then the Norks remind us they aren't friendly, and that if they DO wig out and crash across the DMZ we might ought to slow the process so we can kill enough of them to save South Korea.

This robot is not designed to harm humans. It is designed to clear obstacles and explosives from the path of humans. Also, this is not an autonomous robot, but rather a misnamed remotely controlled vehicle that is 100% under the control of human. The three laws would never be applied to this device.

This isn't used for clearing landmines. Just "Antipersonnel Obstacle"s... IE Concertina Wire or that crazy mesh stuff the Soviets use. If you want to clear landmines with a system like they showed.. the MICLIC is used insead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M58_Mine_Clearing_Line_Charge [wikipedia.org]